


Not an original

by fickle_fics



Category: The Thick of It (TV)
Genre: Bandverse AU, Gen, Interview, grey white
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-26
Updated: 2014-01-26
Packaged: 2018-01-10 04:40:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1155185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fickle_fics/pseuds/fickle_fics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Grey/Malc punk band AU - an interview Grey's given to a fanzine.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not an original

**Author's Note:**

> Very little Malcolm I'm afraid and putting it in TTOI category might be pushing it a bit, but I know some people like Grey/Malc and I feel like gives a perfect insight into Grey, if anyone wants that.

Grey White, lead singer of band _Monochrome Me_ , is the first to admit there‘s nothing original about her post punk, angry feminist act, citing influences including 90s riot grrl and 70s punk. “People like Siouxsie Sioux and Jordan. People who just didn‘t give a fuck what men wanted them to be.”

“Jordan?” I question, somewhat baffled.

“Of the Bromley Contingent” she clarifes, horrified. “Not Katie fucking Price!”

Ah yes _that_ Jordan - muse to one Adam Ant and star of Derek Jarman’s _Jubilee_. That makes much more sense. White still looks faintly horrified by the thought of having the more well known Jordan as a role model, but manages to soldier on after a shot of vodka.

“I never claimed to be original. But I’m authentic, that’s the difference. I never sat down and thought ‘what’ll sell records?” she laughs and adds as an aside, “Obviously, we don’t even have a label. I didn’t sit down and try to work out what would shock people. I’m not fucking Lady Gaga - all style no fucking content. I just do what feels right to me - and yeah screaming into a mic about how fucked the society we live in is feels right to me. More people should be doing it. It’s time for a fucking revolution!”

White is animated, angry and passionate you can see she means it. Her arms are covered in bruises from her energetic, sometimes violent performances.

“If I wasn’t doing this I think I’d probably be locked up,” she admits.

Her stage act is sometimes terrifying to watch - she comes across as a woman on the edge, libel to snap at any moment and quite possibly start punching the male members of the audience, though there’s also something furiously sexual about her and her lyrics. She performs topless most of the time, with only duct tape to cover her breasts.

“Yeah well it gets really hot under those lights when you’re throwing yourself around and screaming you soul out,” she says when I mention this.

Does she think she’s inviting her own sexual objectification?

“Not really,” she shrugs. “I sing about sex, I get my tits out but it’s for me, none of this ‘for the lads’ bullshit. I do everything on my own terms. I own my sexuality, it doesn’t own me and if a man thinks that means they can objectify me they can fuck off back to their pathetic little lives of wanking over internet porn.”

At this point Malcolm Tucker, whom White has said on many occasions she idolises and has done from an early age owing to his own outspoken, political beliefs, enters the room, notes the interview says two words then leaves again. In the brief moments in which they’re in the room together the atmosphere seems slightly heavier. Now seems a good time to move onto the next topic though. The rumours.

White laughs when I refer to them as such. Are they true? I ask.

“That we’re fucking?” she says, not one to beat around the bush. “Yeah. Does it matter? Why _is_ everyone so obsessed with other people’s sex lives?”

I ask if this means she’ll be joining him on the other legs of his tour and she shrugs. “Ask him. I haven‘t got a clue. It‘s not something we talk about.”

So what do they talk about?

“Music, feminism, how corrupt the government are. Everything really, just not the tour.”

I get the impression she wants to say more, but stops herself quickly.

Is she enjoying the tour? The biggest the band have ever done. 

“It’s amazing. I was so stunned when we were asked to do it. Stunned and honoured. It’s terrifying, being in front of so many people, and you can only see the first row. It’s really fucking weird. I’m used to tiny, seedy clubs, y’know toilet cubicles without locks and all that? That’s where we belong. Not here. We’re just making the most of it.”

Does she think this could be the start of something big for _Monochrome Me_?

She shakes her head. “We’re not media friendly. We’re never gonna sell lots of records. I don’t care, it’s not about the money. Like I said I’d be locked up if I wasn’t doing this. It’s more like therapy really.”

She’s happy with the situation?

“Fucking ecstatic.” 

And with that she’s off to get ready for another night of catharsis.


End file.
